May 30, 2008

Via Electronic Submission to PublicAccessComments@NIH.gov

RE:  Request for Information:  NIH Public Access Policy

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) appreciates this opportunity to provide input on the NIH Public Access Policy and the responses to frequently asked questions available through NIH’s public access website.  

ASH represents over 16,000 clinicians and scientists committed to the study and treatment of blood and blood-related diseases. These diseases encompass malignant hematologic disorders such as leukemia and lymphoma, non-malignant conditions including anemia and hemophilia, and congenital disorders such as sickle cell anemia and thalassemia. ASH members are active participants in NIH’s programs, recipients of NIH grants, and contributors to NIH’s research accomplishments.  The Society publishes the premier scientific journal in hematology, Blood, and is committed to a collaborative relationship with NIH to assure that important research findings are published and disseminated by print and electronic means to the public through rigorous independent peer review.

In 2006, ASH developed an agreement with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) creating a new option to comply with the NIH policy on enhanced access. All Blood authors who published NIH-funded articles from May 2005 forward have no obligation to submit manuscripts to the NIH archive because Blood does this on their behalf. The PMC (NIH Portfolio) Archive Program was the result of efforts by ASH and a group of nonprofit publishers to improve compliance with the voluntary NIH public access policy while maintaining the publisher-mandated access embargoes. 

The PMC (NIH Portfolio) Archive Program has the following terms:  The participating project provides NIH with final articles representing NIH-funded research. NIH has internal use of the articles during participating journals’ embargo period, which can be no longer than 12 months.  During the embargo period, NIH can link to the journal web sites to provide access to NIH-funded research articles; following the embargo period, NIH can provide links to the journal, but can also distribute articles directly from its PMC web site (NIH’s view of an article includes a page banner that identifies the corresponding journal and provides a link to the journal’s own web site). ASH volunteered to have Blood be the first participant in the program and agreed to provide articles going back to the original May 2005 implementation date of the original NIH Public Access Policy.   

ASH has implemented the PMC (NIH Portfolio) Archive Program for almost two years, and the Society strongly believes that this option meets the NIH Public Access Policy goals while providing a better alternative for journals and authors than the newly mandated policy.  Consequently, ASH’s comments below focus on the importance of maintaining this option and promoting participation in it to other nonprofit publishers.

Recommendations for Alternative Implementation Approaches to those Already Reflected in the NIH Public Access Policy – 
As stated above, ASH strongly believes that the PMC (NIH Portfolio) Archive Program provides a better alternative for journals and authors than the newly mandated policy.  Through this option, NIH obtains one hundred percent compliance in the policy by participating journals because the journals submit to NIH the final version of NIH funded research articles upon publication on behalf of their authors.  NIH also has the ability to create a stable archive of peer-reviewed research publications resulting from NIH-funded research and a secure searchable compendium of these peer-reviewed research publications that NIH can use to manage research portfolios and set research priorities. In addition, this program protects the integrity of journal articles by allowing the journal to submit the final article, maintains journal business models by protecting the embargo period and the peer-review system, and, importantly, continues to allow enhanced access of science to researchers and the public.  ASH believes NIH should take steps to increase its outreach to other nonprofit publishers to promote participation in this program.

Recommendations for Monitoring and Ensuring Compliance with the NIH Public Access Policy – 
ASH believes many stakeholders continue to be confused about the NIH Public Access Policy.  We recommend that NIH provide clear and concise information about how to comply with the Policy and alternatives like the PMC (NIH Portfolio) Archive Program to authors and potential publisher partners.

Recommendations Concerning the Information and Responses to the Public Access Frequently Asked Questions – 
Section A-General Information - The information provided to question 1 states, “It [NIH Public Access Policy] requires scientists to submit journal articles that arise from NIH funds to the digital archive PubMed Central.”  ASH recommends that this information reference that scientists are required to submit or publish in a journal that will submit on their behalf.  In this way, NIH acknowledges upfront the option of the PMC (NIH Portfolio) Archive Program.  The Society believes that researcher authors may want to eliminate the burden of submitting their articles to NIH and may be attracted to submitting their articles that will provide this service for them.

Section B-Scope of the Policy - The information provided in response to question 2 states, “The Policy applies to all peer-reviewed journal articles, including research reports and reviews.  The Policy does not apply to non-peer-reviewed materials such as correspondence, book chapters, and editorials.”  It has come to the Society’s attention, however, that several non-peer-reviewed materials have been submitted and posted to PMC.  Therefore, ASH urges NIH to make sure implementation of the Policy is consistent with this response.

The information provided in response to question 4 concerns whether submission is required for research funded by a grant or cooperative agreement that expired before FY 2008.  ASH recommends that NIH include in this response that the author should check with the journal to make sure the submission is not duplicative, if he or she decides to submit.

Section C-How to Comply With the Policy – ASH is pleased that NIH has included in the response to question 1 that some publishers have agreed to make the final published article of every NIH-funded article publicly available in PubMed Central within 12 months of publication and for these journals, authors do not need to do anything to fulfill the submission requirement.  The Society recommends, however, that this language also be included prominently upfront in the General Information section as well in order to make sure authors are aware of this option and to prevent duplication of submission or incorrect submission by well-intended authors.

ASH is also pleased that NIH notes in response to question 2 that authors should work with the publisher before any rights are transferred to ensure that all conditions of the NIH Public Access Policy can be met.  It is critical that authors be encouraged to work with their publishers in order to meet the requirements of the NIH Public Access Policy and also the requirements of the publisher.  Similarly, ASH recommends that in response to question 3 concerning language for the copyright agreement, NIH should refer authors back to their publishers to ensure that the authors adhere to the publishers’ requirements and legal counsel.  On this point, ASH is particularly concerned that NIH intramural investigators recently were instructed to only use the NIH publishing agreement, not accept a publisher’s copyright transfer agreement, and to submit their manuscript (not final article) to PubMed Central upon acceptance.  Further, the recent instructions to intramural researchers state that if the journal rejects the NIH Publishing Agreement or wants to change it, the author must recall the manuscript and submit it to another journal.  These instructions are not only inconsistent with the Public Access FAQ, but they undermine the terms of the PMC (NIH Portfolio) Archive Program.  ASH believes that if an article is based on NIH-funded research by a NIH intramural researcher the information is in the public domain.  Legally, therefore, the intramural researcher author cannot assign copyright to ASH or to the NIH.  ASH would like to discuss this more thoroughly with NIH to resolve issues raised in these instructions following the Request for Information comment period.

Again, thank you for the opportunity to provide information concerning the NIH Public Access Policy.  If the NIH has questions regarding ASH’s comments, please do not hesitate to contact ASH Director of Government Relations & Practice Mila Becker at mbecker@hematology.org or 202.776.0544.